Integrated circuit devices are used in radio communications devices such as cellular radio telephones. In particular, integrated circuit (IC) devices including radio frequency (RF) circuitry fabricated using high speed semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) and/or indium phosphide (InP) are commonly used.
These RF-IC devices are conventionally encapsulated in plastic packages with the RF circuitry being covered with plastic. The conventional plastic package, however, may add parasitic capacitance reducing the performance of the RF circuitry. In particular, the plastics used in these conventional packages may have dielectric constants of 4 or higher.
Accordingly, packages for RF-IC devices have been developed to remove the plastic from the RF circuitry. In particular, a package including a pre-molded support and a lid which are attached to the RF-IC device have been proposed. The pre-molded support is attached to the surface of the RF-IC device, and an opening in the pre-molded support exposes the RF circuitry. The lid is attached to the pre-molded support to cover this opening.
This package, however, may be undesirably complicated and expensive because the pre-molded support and lid are separately formed and then attached to individual RF-IC devices. Moreover, the pre-molded support and lid may add undesired height to the RF-IC device.
Accordingly, there continues to exist a need in the art for improved integrated circuit packages and methods.